Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1887-04-16
AN ESSAY OH HUNTING DOGS.
THE RELATIVE MERITS OF POINTERS AND
Settlers CONSIDERED.

Interest Men Who Shoot Over High-Bre
Canines-Setters Make Good House Dog
The variety of pointers now mo;
commonly met with is the Englis
breed distinguished by the fineness o
coat. lightness of limbs and ratishnes
of tail. The heavy limbed, ponderou
animal Of Spanish origin is now s
rarely seen as to be almost forgotten
The larger variety perhaps excelled the
smaller In endurance. The head of
well.bred pointer should be broad a
the top, long and tapering. the roll risin:
toa point His nose should be opeI
and large, his ears tolerably long
slightly erect and falling between tn,
neck and the jaw bone; his eyes should
be clear. dark and bright; his chesj
broad and deep-an indication o.
strength and endurance. His leg:
should be straight and muscular. loin,
broad at the top. The headquarters
should be broad, and hind legs strong
and large; tail long, fine and tapering;
hair short, close and thick and as glossy
as that of well-groomed horse.
These are the characteristics of a
purely bred English pointer, than
VIII oh there is not all tn ngs consid-
cred, better field dog in the world.
Good dogs are of many colors, but
the best are liver. liver aud white,
lemon and white. white and fawn, and
pure black. Black aud white pointers
may be purely bred, bat they are re-
carried with suspicion by sportSmen.
The settlers head. like the pointers,
should be broad at the top. between
the eyes. but the muzzle should be
longer and more pointed. A deepish
indenture should be found below the
eyes. aud high, bony ridge should he
on the top of the skull. This frontal
sirius denotes seeming power in all
sporting dogs. The ears should be
pendulous and slightly rounded, the
eyes dark and full. the nose soft. mo st
and large. 1t has been said that a
black nose and palate indicate purity
OF breed. THIS is not necessarily true,
but such type is preferred as a rule.
The BODY Of the setter. d.vested of its
long silky hair, resembles that of the
pointer. but it is deeper and longer.
The legs should be long to the knee
and short downward; feet small. round.
and thickly clothed with hair between
the toes. The tail should be long and
tapering and thickly feathered with
long wavy hair. While wavy hair is
desirable. curly hair denotes a cross
with the water spaniel. The most
desirable colors are black, black and
white, lemon and white. black and
white roam, red and white roam, and
sometimes liver and white.
Black and tan settlers are supposed
to be the famous Gordon settlers origin
ally bred by Sir George Gordon. but
there are many black and tan dogs
called settlers that have not one drop of
the Gordon strain Of blood in their
veins. A famous strain of English set
tiers is that known as the Blue Beltons.
They are black and win to roans, and
are very celebrated for their powers of
scent or, in sportsmen's phraseology,
for their ''nose."
The Irish setter Is deep dark red
dog or he is red and white. THIS breed
must be possessed of black nose and
palate, else something very foreign to
the true stra is present. This breed
Is larger and more headstrong than any
other, but they are famous field dogs.
The care of the dogs health is of
prime moment He should not be
starved nor overfed. This may seem a
needless assertion. but if dogs could
talk what pitiable stories they would
tell Of spasmodic kindness and common
neglect! All owners of dogs are not so
cons derate rs the society mother, who,
having read of the prevalence of food
adulleration - particularly poisoned
candy-cautioned her maid against al
lowing Dear T do" to partake of the
children's sweets. The hours of feed |
ing all dogs should BE- at regular inter-
vals. In summer. especially, lump of |
sulphur should always be in the drink |
ing vessel II should be remembered |
that the setter is a water-dog and that
ne can not thrive without plenty of wa
Ter. One can never be certain of pos |
sessing good hunting dog. pointer or
setter. simply because he knows IN to |
De .pnrely-bred Constitut oual timidi |
ty inherited from some progenitor back
many generations may make the best
bred dog gun-shy, Or he may have no
'nose."
Agun-shy dog Is n very disappoint-
ing animal The fault may. however,
De cured by gentle treatment Attach
a long. strong cord to the dogs collar.
lhls is to check the frightened animal
IN his attempted flight from tho report
OF the gun and to force him to return.
Having learned that the discharge of a
gun Is unattended with danger to him
sell, the animal slowly regains conf.
dence. and after few birds have been
Killed IN bis presence he will, if DOS
sessed OF any ambit on. soon learn to
love the gun as much as he previously
reared It. A frantic Joy manifested in
every conceivable manner at the sight
OF gun then supcrsedes his former
sneakIng cowardice. The cord NAV be
used to great advantage also i'm
many other branches of the youno
dog education. Dogs should be train,
cd while quite young. This is &C
compllshed with more or less ease ac-
corning to the intelligence, of both
teacher and pupil. As with mankind.
education ennobles the dog, develops
MS intellect and forms his character
anu manners. Particularly is this true
OF pointers and settlers. The features
Tor their education are so many that
description will not here be undertaken
lhe young sportsman should have bis
dogs trained for field sports by reji.
able trainer. To those interested in
sporting dogs the setter is specialize
rec0mmendad HE d;s.~o.:.. |